Aiming at a BreakthroughPresent and Future Views of the Divisionof Plasma Electronics
Akihiro KONO
Chief, Division of Plasma Electronics
Japan Society of Applied Physics

The Division of Plasma Electronics (DPE)
has approximately 460 members and carries
out activities to promote low-temperatureplasma science and technology by sponsoring topical meetings, tutorial
meetings, bulletin publications, and so on. The DPE also works closelywith the Radiation/Plasma Electronics Section in the JSAP spring andautumn meetings, where scientific sessions are organized under thecategories of Plasma Sources and Production Technologies, Diagnostics of Reactive Plasmas, Plasma-Based Material Processing, Nanotechnologies through Plasma Processes, and General Topics regarding
Plasma Discharges.
The DPE originated from the Professional Group in Plasma Electronics (PGPE) which was organized in JSAP in 1985. At that time, thefield of plasma application to materials and device processing was in
its initial phase of development but the discharge and plasma related
sessions in the JSAP regular meetings were rather inactive regarding
this field. Recognizing the importance of advancing the field, PGPE
members set up the Plasma Electronics section in the JSAP regularmeetings and also began to organize an annual topical meeting, theSymposium on Plasma Processing (SPP). They also jointly organized
an annual meeting for the discussion of lighting plasma science andtechnology with the Illuminating Engineering Institute of Japan. With
the growing interest in and industrial needs regarding plasma technology in materials processing, PGPE rapidly increased its membershipand became a division of JSAP (DPE) in 1990. While SPP-2 in 1985
mainly consisted of arranged sessions with approximately 60 presentations, SPP-7 in 1990 had approximately 130 presentations including invited and contributed papers; also, while the Proceedings ofSPP were prepared in Japanese for the first few meetings (with manyhand-written papers), those after 1988 have been published in English to reflect the importance of international information exchange.
Since its establishment, the DPE has steadily extended the range of its
activities. Since 1990, DPE has provided a plasma short course every
year; since 1994, it has also sponsored a Plasma Summer School held
annually in beautiful mountain areas of Japan for graduate students
and people in industry entering this field.
The SPP, the central activity of the DPE, has grown into a meeting of international renown. Since 1991, approximately once every
three years, the SPP has been held as an international conference −the International Conference on Reactive Plasmas (ICRP) − under theauspices of JSAP. In 1998, ICRP-4 was jointly held (in Maui) with the51st Gaseous Electronics Conference (GEC), which is a United States
based annual conference with many international participants. In2002, ICRP-5 was jointly held (in Grenoble) with the 16th European
Conference on Atomic & Molecular Physics of Ionized Gases (ESCAMPIG). These meetings have greatly contributed to strengthening theinternational relationship between scientists and engineers working in
the field of plasma electronics. In 2001, major plasma-related organizations in Japan held the Plasma Science Symposium 2001 (PSS-2001),
which covered an extensive range of plasma fields including industrial
applications of low-temperature and thermal plasmas, fusion plasmas,
space plasmas, and so on; SPP-18 was jointly held with PSS-2001 andthe DPE acted as the managing society in organizing the conference.
The latest SPP (SPP-21) was held in Sapporo as a regular domestic
meeting, having approximately 160 invited and contributed papers. Inthe 2003 fiscal year, the DPE also sponsored the International Workshop on Plasma Nano-technology and its Future Vision (an extended
version of the Vision meeting, which DPS has organized every year
since 2000).
In the past two decades, great advances have been made in thefield of plasma electronics, and members of the DPE have made significant contributions to these advances. In particular, many DPE
members have participated in two research projects supported byMEXT Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research of Priority Areas − Controlof Reactive Plasmas (1988-1990) and Free Radical Science (1993-1996)− which have deepened and expanded our fundamental knowledge
concerning plasma electronics. Understanding the principles of controlling the plasma parameters in various plasma sources has been
deepened significantly, and it is now common practice to discuss
chemical processes in reactive plasmas based on the measured free
radical densities.
Nano-scale precision plasma processing is required to fabricate
semiconductor ULSIs, whose dimensions are ever shrinking, while
above-meter-scale plasma sources with high uniformity are needed inflat panel displays. Great challenges and numerous problems remain
to be overcome before we will be able to produce plasmas of any desired size with well controlled plasma parameters. At the same time,
however, many believe that the field of semiconductor device process
technology, which has been a driving force for advances in plasma
electronics, is entering a mature phase. If this is true, how the DPE
can best maintain or raise further its current high level of activity is aquestion that deserves serious consideration. Novel forms of plasma
production in new parameter regions and subsequent applications
are the targets of intense study under a MEXT Priority-Area Grantin-Aid for Scientific Research − Generation of Micro-Scale Reactive
Plasmas and Development of Their New Applications. Activities inemerging fields, such as plasma applications to bio/life science, environmental technology, and nano-technology, are growing. We should
actively pursue and encourage interaction with those working in different fields, while also strengthening the scientific foundations ofour own field to enable the realization of effective synergies throughsuch interactions.

JSAP International No.10 (July 2004)

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